Willie Davis (baseball) - Career

Career

As a youngster, Davis moved to Los Angeles, California, where he was a three-sport standout in baseball, basketball, and track & field at Theodore Roosevelt High School. He once ran a 9.5-second 100-yard dash, and set a city record in the long jump of 25 feet 5 inches (7.75 m). Discovered by the Dodgers scout, Kenny Myers, Davis signed with the ballclub upon graduating from Roosevelt in 1958. While playing for Reno, he scored from first base on a single nine times in one season.

Davis played his first game with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1960. The following season he replaced the former All-Star Duke Snider in center field, where Davis stayed for 13 years. Widely considered to be one of the fastest baseball players of the 1960s, Davis had 20 or more stolen bases in eleven consecutive seasons. Davis's career-high in stolen bases was 42 in 1964. Along with Maury Wills, Davis put a lot of footspeed at the top of Dodgers' lineup, and this helped them to either win or tie for the National League lead at the ends of the baseball seasons of 1962, '63, '65, and '66. Also, in 1962, these two players "set the plate" for their teammate Tommy Davis to lead the National League with 153 runs batted in (RBI) -- the only time that a Los Angeles Dodger has ever accumulated 150 or more RBI in one baseball season.

In 1962, Davis batted .285 with 85 runs batted in, and he posted career highs in home runs (21), runs (103), and hits (171). In that same season, Davis and Wills set an National League record for stolen bases by two teammates in season with 136 (Wills with 104 and Davis with 32).

Davis batted a career-high .311 in 1969. His hitting streak that year, from August 1 to September 3, was the longest one in the major leagues since Dom DiMaggio hit in 34 straight games in 1949, and it broke Zack Wheat's franchise record of 29, set in 1916. In 1970, Davis batted .305, and he had another hitting streak of 25 games in 1971, ending with a 0.309 batting average and in double figures in doubles, 33; triples, 10;, home runs, 10; and stolen bases, 20. Davis also led the NL in triples in 1962 and 1970.

Davis was selected for the National League All-Star teams in 1971 and in 1973, batting a combined 3-for-3, with a home run off the pitcher Nolan Ryan. Davis won a Gold Glove each year from 1971 to 1973. In the 1965 World Series, Davis set a record (since broken) of three stolen bases (including one during which he stumbled and fell, the pitcher hesitated throwing to first base, and Davis literally crawled into second base safely) in a single game. He led the league in put-outs twice, but also twice led the league in errors. Unfortunately for him, Davis committed an all-time World Series record of three errors on just two consecutive plays in the fifth inning of Game Two of the 1966 World Series (in the final game of Sandy Koufax's great pitching career), first by losing Paul Blair's fly ball in the sun for a two-base error, then by dropping Andy Etchebarren's fly ball one batter later and overthrowing third base, allowing Boog Powell and Blair to score. When questioned after the game, he said, "It's not my wife; it's not my life. It's just a game." And in retrospect, the Dodgers did not score any runs in that game nor the last 2 games in the World Series as they were swept by the Orioles, so even if Willie hadn't made the errors the Dodgers would have lost.

After 1973 season, Davis was traded to the Montreal Expos for the pitcher Mike Marshall. Davis batted .295 for Montreal before being traded to the Texas Rangers in December 1974. Davis batted just .249 for the Rangers in 42 games in 1975 before finishing the season with the St. Louis Cardinals, batting .291. In 1976 he batted .268 for the San Diego Padres, and then he spent two years in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons and Crown Lighter Lions.